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High-temperature-resistant adhesives are critical materials in the aerospace field. The zirconium-modified aluminum phosphate-based adhesives developed in this work had the advantage of adjustable thermal expansibility, achieving a high matching of coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) with alumina. The introduction of zirconium can significantly improve the thermal stability of the adhesive matrix, and the Zr/Al ratio substantially affects the various reaction processes inside the adhesive, especially the types of zirconium-containing compounds. Most of the zirconium-containing compounds in the A7Z3 adhesive were ZrO2 only when the mass ratio of zirconium hydroxide to aluminum hydroxide was 3 : 7, which was the key reason why it had the highest CTE. The room-temperature bonding strength of A7Z3 after heat treatment at 1500 °C reached 67.2 MPa. After pretreatment at 1500 °C, the high-temperature bonding strength of A7Z3 was greater than 50 MPa in the range of (room temperature) RT–1000 °C. After 40 thermal cycles between RT and 1500 °C, the bonding strength still reached 10 MPa. Physical bonding occurred at temperatures below 1000 °C, while chemical bonding dominated above 1000 °C based on the generation of Al5BO9 and mullite at the interfaces.

The Maritime Silk Road presents not only great opportunities for development but also enormous challenges to marine ecological security. While, there lacks a systematic assessment of the state of marine ecological security at the regional multi-country scale, which leads to the limited understanding of the marine ecological security from integrated dimensions. This study considered 30 countries along the Maritime Silk Road, constructed marine ecological security assessment indicator system based on Environment-Economy-Society (EES) model, and combined with fuzzy object element model, assessed the spatial and temporal changes of marine ecological security of each country from 2013 to 2019. The results showed that Tanzania has the best state of marine environmental security and Bahrain has the worst state of marine environmental security in terms of marine environmental security. In terms of marine economic security, from 2013 to 2019, there is an upward trend in marine economic security in South Asia. In terms of marine social security, Philippines has the best marine social security, with a security index of 0.787. From the comprehensive assessment results, the marine ecological security situation of the countries along the Maritime Silk Road generally shows an upward trend during the 2013–2019 period. Factors such as the construction of marine protected areas, marine industry, port construction, coastal population numbers, and the number of foreign tourists have significant impacts on marine ecological security. Countries along the Maritime Silk Road should take measures in the areas of marine infrastructure construction, marine ecological restoration and protection, and transboundary cooperation and management in order to promote the sustainable development of marine ecological security in the future.

In underground engineering with complex conditions, the bolt (cable) anchorage support system is in an environment where static and dynamic stresses coexist, under the action of geological conditions such as high stresses and strong disturbances and construction conditions such as the application of high prestress. It is essential to study the support components performance under dynamic-static coupling conditions. Based on this, a multi-functional anchorage support dynamic-static coupling performance test system (MAC system) is developed, which can achieve 7 types of testing functions, including single component performance, anchored net performance, anchored rock performance and so on. The bolt and cable mechanical tests are conducted by MAC system under different prestress levels. The results showed that compared to the non-prestress condition, the impact resistance performance of prestressed bolts (cables) is significantly reduced. In the prestress range of 50–160 kN, the maximum reduction rate of impact energy resisted by different types of bolts is 53.9%–61.5% compared to non-prestress condition. In the prestress range of 150–300 kN, the impact energy resisted by high-strength cable is reduced by 76.8%–84.6% compared to non-prestress condition. The MAC system achieves dynamic-static coupling performance test, which provide an effective means for the design of anchorage support system.

Abstract Background A growing body of evidence points to the association between insulin resistance (IR), metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components and lung cancer incidence, but remains controversial and unknown. Methods A systematic search was conducted through PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang databases for the corresponding studies. Each study reported the risk estimate and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for lung cancer, and a fixed effects model or random effects model was used for outcome. Results We included 31 publications involving 6,589,383 people with 62,246 cases of lung cancer. Diabetes mellitus (DM) (RR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.06–1.16, P = 0.000) and IR (RR = 2.35, 95% CI 1.55–3.58, P = 0.000) showed a positive association with lung cancer risk. BMI (RR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.54–0.81, P = 0.000) and HDL-C (RR = 0.88, 95% CI 0.79–0.97, P = 0.010) were negatively correlated with lung cancer. MetS(RR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.90–1.09, P = 0.801), TC (RR = 0.93, 95% CI 0.81–1.06, P = 0.274), TG (RR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.88–1.12,P = 0.884), LDL-C (RR = 1.01, 95% CI 0.87–1.16, P = 0.928), hypertension (RR = 1.01, 95% CI 0.88–1.15, P = 0.928), FBG (RR = 1.02, 95% CI 0.92–1.13, P = 0.677) and obesity (RR = 1.11, 95% CI 0.92–1.35, P = 0.280) were not associated with lung cancer. Conclusion Our study showed that the risk of lung cancer is correlated with DM, IR, BMI, and HDL-C. Timely control of these metabolic disorders may have a positive effect on preventing lung cancer. Trial registration Our study has been registered in the Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO), ID: CRD42023390710.

ObjectiveThe aims of this survey were to investigate the public awareness of drug clinical trials (DCTs) and willingness to participate the DCTs, and provide references for propaganda and science popularization of DCTs.MethodsA self-designed questionnaire named “an online survey questionnaire on public awareness of DCTs” was used to conduct an online survey from January to March 2022. The demographic characteristics and the response of participants to the awareness and willingness to participate the DCTs were collected. The factors affecting the public awareness of DCTs were analyzed by single factor and binary logistic regression analysis.ResultsOne thousand three hundred eighty valid questionnaires were collected, and the respondents’ awareness rate of DCTs was 61.1%. Thirteen demographic characteristics including age, gender, education, occupation, work fields, household type, marital status, city type, income, medical insurance, medical expenditure, pressure to seek medical care, financial pressure, both significantly affected the qualified rate of participants’ awareness of DCTs (p

The microstructural evolution of a single-phase Cu–12Mn–3Ni alloy during rolling and annealing has been investigated using electron backscatter diffraction and X-ray diffraction techniques. We have established the effects of microstructural characteristics on material strength and the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR). The yield strength increased to 682 MPa after cold rolling with a strain of 0.87 due to an increase in the density of dislocation and low-angle grain boundary. A significant annealing softening is observed for the cold-rolled Cu–Mn–Ni alloy at temperatures above 400 °C, caused by recrystallization. The difference in yield strength for fully recrystallized alloys is mainly attributed to a difference in grain size, consistent with the Hall–Petch relationship. The addition of Ni and Mn enhanced the degree of difficulty in dislocation passing through the grain boundary, resulting in a higher Hall-Petch constant (274 MPa μm1/2) for Cu–12Mn–3Ni alloys when compared with pure copper. The TCR is related to grain size, dislocation and Cu–12Mn–3Ni alloy texture. Grain coarsening and reduced dislocation density can effectively enhance the resistance temperature stability. In addition, the strong copper texture formed during cold rolling results in a difference in TCR associated with the rolling direction (RD) and transverse direction (TD) of the cold-rolled sheet. The Cu–Mn–Ni alloy crystal exhibits a lower resistance sensitivity to temperature when the [110]Cu direction is parallel to the current direction compared with the [111]Cu direction parallel to the current direction. The absolute value of the TCR in the TD of the cold-rolled sheet is 10.2 × 10−6 °C−1, lower than that in the RD (19.3 × 10−6 °C−1).

The timely and accurate recognition of dynamic muscle fatigued states in rehabilitation training helped in tailoring more scientifically effective training plans for patients. In this study, a CNN-LSTM-Transformer (CLT) model based on surface electromyographic signals (sEMG) was proposed to address the limited classification and low identification accuracy observed in existing muscle fatigued state recognition methods. This model combined the traditional convolutional neural network (CNN), long short-term memory network (LSTM), and Transformer encoder to achieve accurate classification of dynamic muscle fatigued. First, elbow flexion-extension fatigued experiments were conducted on 20 healthy participants, who were divided into four fatigued states based on the degree of fatigued. Subsequently, the acquired sEMG signal data was preprocessed and two nonlinear features, approximate entropy (ApEn) and permutation entropy (PE), were extracted as input features for machine learning. Finally, a CLT fatigued recognition model was constructed using the preprocessed sEMG signal data and compared with CNN, LSTM, and random forest (RF) models. The results showed that the CLT model had higher accuracy in recognizing muscle fatigued states compared to CNN, LSTM, and RF models, with a respective increase of 4.1%, 5.06%, and 8.39%. This model had good classification performance and could be used to monitor muscle fatigued during upper limb rehabilitation processes.

BackgroundPostoperative ileus (POI) is one of the main complications after colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery, and there is still a lack of effective treatment. At present, the evidence for improvement of POI by invasive acupuncture (manual acupuncture and electroacupuncture, IA) is limited. This meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) aims to systematically review and evaluate the effect of IA in improving POI after CRC surgery.MethodsThis meta-analysis was reported according to PRISMA statement and AMSTAR guidelines. The retrieval time was from the inception to February 2023. The RCTs were screened by searching the databases (PubMed, Ovid, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP Database, Sinomed Database, and WANFANG). Two independent investigators screened and extracted the data, assessed the risk of bias, and performed statistical analysis. The statistical analysis was carried out by RevMan5.3. The PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews received this research for registration (CRD42023387700).ResultsThirteen studies with 795 patients were included. In the primary outcome indicators: the IA group had shorter time to the first flauts [stand mean difference (SMD), −0.57; 95% CI, −0.73 to −0.41, p

Objective. To investigate the oncogenic effect and clinical significance of RAC2 in pancarcinoma from the perspective of tumor immunity and cancer stem cell. Methods. After in-depth mining of TCGA, GEO, UCSC, and other databases, basic information of the RAC2 gene and its expression in tumor tissues as well as the relationship between RAC2 and tumor were analyzed based on survival, mutation, immune microenvironment, tumor stemness, and enrichment analysis on related pathways. Results. RAC2 mRNA expression was increased in most tumor tissues and was associated with their prognosis. Compared to normal tissues, the RAC2 mutation rate was higher in patients with skin melanoma, uterine sarcoma, and endometrial cancer. RAC2 had a strong relation with immune cell infiltration, immunomodulators, immunotherapy markers, cancer stem cell of THYM, and immune-related pathways. Conclusions. This study explored the potential importance of RAC2 in the prognosis, immunotherapy, and cancer stem cell of 33 cancers, laying the foundation for mechanistic experiments and its future application in clinical practice. However, the results using bioinformatics methods could be affected by the differences in patients across databases. Thus, the present results were preliminary and required further experimental validation.

Breast cancer with choriocarcinomatous features (BCCF) is a rare and aggressive breast cancer. BCCF carries a poor prognosis and there is unfortunately scant literature to guide treatment beyond surgical resection with most patients receiving standard regimens for breast cancer. In our case, we present a 42-year-old female with an initial hCG of 2,324 and two suspicious lesions of the right breast. On biopsy, each lesion had distinct histopathology with the larger lesion diagnosed as BCCF and the smaller lesion being an invasive ER/PR positive ductal carcinoma. The diagnosis of BCCF rather than metastatic choriocarcinoma was confirmed using DNA typing. Salvage chemotherapy targeting choriocarcinoma resulted in marked clinical and biomarker success including normalization of the hCG. After recurrent brain metastases were diagnosed, high dose chemotherapy with methotrexate was administered resulting in long term remission.

Land-use and land-cover changes in the Eastern European Plain have important implications for regional and global ecological environments, food security, and socio-economic development. Here, three 30 m resolution global land cover data products (FROM_GLC, GlobeLand30, and GLC_FCS30) from the Eastern European Plain were analyzed and evaluated for component similarity, type confusion degree, spatial consistency, and accuracy verification. The research found that the three products provided consistent descriptions of land-cover types in the East European Plain. There was a strong correlation in the type area between the different products, with a correlation coefficient >0.85. Medium-to-high-consistency areas represented 92.31% of the total plains area. The low-consistency areas were mainly concentrated on Yuzhny Island, Kola Peninsula, and Pechora River Basin. The comparison revealed high consistency among the three products in identifying forest, cropland, water, and permanent ice/snow types. However, the consistency was poor for shrubs, wetlands, and bare land. Using the GLCVSS_V1 validation dataset, the highest overall accuracy among the assessed land cover data products was observed in the FROM_GLC (73.96%), followed by GlobeLand30 (69.80%) and GLC_FCS30 (67.29%). The FROM_GLC dataset is suitable for studying forests, tundra, water, and providing an overall representation of the region’s land cover. The GLC_FCS30 dataset is more suitable for agricultural research. The differences between products arise from the differences in classification systems, algorithms, and data correction. In the future, it will be necessary to utilize the advantages of different products for data fusion, focusing on areas with high heterogeneity and easily confused types, and improving the reliability of land-cover data products.

A scientifically accurate assessment of tunnel health is the prerequisite for the safe maintenance and sustainability of the in-service road tunnel. The changing trend of tunnel health is not considered in existing research. Most evaluation indicators are static and the ambiguities or randomness at the boundary of the health level intervals is neglected in most evaluation methods. In this paper, the evaluation index system combined with dynamic, and static is set to solve these problems. The changing trend of the health state of tunnels is analyzed through the cubic b-spline function. The weights of evaluation indicators are calculated based on the AHP-improved entropy method. The health evaluation method is proposed based on combing the extension theory and the cloud model improved by the cloud entropy optimization algorithm. Finally, the evaluation results of the proposed method are compared with the detection data of the Beilongmen Tunnel of Zhangzhuo Expressway. The results demonstrate that 80% of the evaluation results in the sample tunnel data are consistent with the standard results, and the remaining 20% show a lower level of health than the standard results. This reflects the evaluation results are impacted by the trend of tunnel health status changes. The health state can be more accurately evaluated by dynamic indicators. The improved extension cloud model is feasible and applicable in the health assessment of tunnels. This work provides innovative ideas for the evaluation of the health state of tunnels and theoretical support for the formulation of reasonable maintenance measures.

During the COVID-19 epidemic, quarantine and financial disadvantages might exacerbate social anxiety among impoverished college students. Based on the hardiness model and the social support buffering model, the present study proposed and verified a dual moderation model to investigate the effects of hardiness on social anxiety and the moderating roles of gender and perceived social support. The hardiness scale, the perceived social support scale, and the social anxiety subscale of the self-consciousness scale were administered to 673 Chinese college students aged 18 to 23 years who were recognized as impoverished by the Chinese authorities and provided with funding. The results revealed that (1) hardiness had a significant negative effect on social anxiety, (2) perceived social support moderated the effect of hardiness on social anxiety, and (3) gender moderated the effect of hardiness on social anxiety. The dual moderated model proposed in the study provides practical implications for helping impoverished college students cope with social anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BackgroundThis study examined the effects of poor physical capacity and high body fat percentage (BF%) on the incidence of hypertension in Chinese suburb-dwelling older adults.MethodsThis study was conducted on 368 Chinese suburb-dwelling participants aged ≥ 60 years without hypertension (mean age: 66.74 ± 5.59 years, 48.9% men). Poor physical capacity is defined by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) criteria as grip strength < 26 kg for men and < 18 kg for women or walking speed

Rapid and accurate identification of mangroves using remote sensing images is of great significance for assisting ecological conservation efforts in coastal zones. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, deep learning methods have been successfully applied to a variety of fields. However, few studies have applied deep learning methods to the automatic detection of mangroves and few scholars have used medium-resolution Landsat images for large-scale mangrove identification. In this study, cloud-free Landsat 8 OLI imagery of the Indus Delta was acquired using the GEE platform, and NDVI and land use data were used to produce integrated labels to reduce the complexity and subjectivity of manually labeled samples. We proposed the use of MSNet, a semantic segmentation model fusing multiple-scale features, for mangrove extraction in the Indus Delta, and compared the performance of the MSNet model with three other semantic segmentation models, FCN-8s, SegNet, and U-Net. The overall performance ranking of the deep learning methods was MSNet > U-Net > SegNet > FCN-8s. The parallel-structured MSNet model was easy to train, had the fewest parameters and the highest validation accuracy, and provided the best results for the extraction of mangrove pixels with weak features. The MSNet model not only maintains the high-resolution features of the image and fully learns the pixels with weak features during the training process but also fuses the multiple-scale underlying features at different scales to enhance the semantic information and improve the accuracy of feature recognition and segmentation localization. Finally, the areas covered by mangroves in the Indus Delta in 2014 and 2022 were extracted using the best-performing MSNet. The statistics show an increase in mangrove-covered areas in the Indus Delta between 2014 and 2022, with a reduction of 44.37 km2, an increase of 170.48 km2, and a net increase of 126.11 km2.

According to the hardiness model and the perspective of different treatment by parents, this study developed and validated a moderated mediation model to explore the direct effect of hardiness on the mental health of Chinese funded college students (FCSs), the mediating role of social support, and the moderating role of only-child (OC) /non-only-child (NOC) status. A hardiness scale, mental health scale, and perceived social support scale were used to examine information on 673 Chinese FCSs. Hardiness had a significantly positive effect on the mental health of FCSs. Mediation analysis indicated that social support mediated the relationship between hardiness and the mental health of FCSs. The moderated mediation model analysis indicated that the OC/NOC status moderated the second half of the mediation model. The results suggest that the hardiness model is applicable to FCSs from China and elucidate the internal influence mechanism between hardiness and mental health. On the basis of the findings of this study, suggestions are presented in this paper for college education management.

3D cancer cell models are suitable for drug evaluation because they more precisely mimic tissue architecture than 2D cultures. To study cytotoxicity of anticancer agents, the most sensitive CellTiter-Glo 3D assay is used. However, this is an end point assay, so it is not possible to consider the variance of the starting material amount in the final reading. It is difficult to maintain an even plating density of 3D organoids for cytotoxicity analysis. We present a simple, 3D bladder cancer culture that can be maintained, cryopreserved and used for molecular and drug response studies. We applied a simple modification of the drug response assay for 3D cultures by measuring the background signal with the CellTiter Blue assay before drug application.

ABSTRACT: In this study, we prepared a kind of novel microecologics, namely Chinese medicine–probiotic compound microecological preparation (CPCMP), which is composed of 5 traditional Chinese medicine herbs (Galla Chinensis, Andrographis paniculata, Arctii Fructus, Glycyrrhizae Radix, and Schizonepeta tenuifolia) fermented by Aspergillus niger and a kind of compound probiotics (Lactobacillus plantarum A37 and L. plantarum MIII). The effects of the CPCMP in broilers on growth performance, serum parameters, immune function, and intestinal health were investigated. A total of 450 one-day-old male Arbor Acres broilers were randomly divided into 6 treatment groups with 5 replicates, 15 birds per replicate. Treatments consisted of: blank control, CPCMP, positive control, commercial CPCMP, traditional Chinese medicine, and probiotics groups, which were birds fed with basal diet supplemented with no extra additives, 0.2% CPCMP, 0.0035% chlortetracycline, 0.2% commercially available CPCMP, 0.2% fermented traditional Chinese medicines, and 0.2% compound probiotics, respectively. CPCMP obviously increased the average body weight and average daily gain (P < 0.05, compared with any other group) and decreased the feed:gain ratio of broilers (P < 0.05, compared with the blank control, commercial CPCMP, traditional Chinese medicine, or probiotics group). Moreover, it significantly increased glutathione peroxidase and secretory immunoglobulin A levels and spleen/bursa indices (P < 0.05 for all, compared with the blank control, commercial CPCMP, traditional Chinese medicine, or probiotics group). Villus heights in duodenum, jejunum, and ileum were also elevated by CPCMP treatment (P < 0.05, compared with any other group). Furthermore, CPCMP substantially increased jejunal mRNA levels of occludin and zonula occludens-1 (P < 0.05, compared with the blank control, positive control, or probiotics group) and facilitated the growth and colonization of beneficial cecal bacteria, such as Olsenella, Barnesiella, and Lactobacillus. Overall results show that the CPCMP prepared in our work contributes to improving growth performance, serum parameters, immune function, and intestinal health of broilers and exerts synergistic effects of traditional Chinese medicines and probiotics to some extent. Our findings suggest that CPCMP is a promising antibiotic substitute in the livestock and poultry industry in the future.

The lack of hydrogen (H2) transportation infrastructure restricts the development of the H2 industry. Owing to the high investment of building specific facilities, using existing natural gas (NG) pipelines to transport a blend of H2 and NG (H2NG) is a viable means of transportation and approach for large-scale long-time storage. However, variation in the thermo-physical properties of an H2NG blend will impact the performance of pipeline appliances. To address the gaps in H2 transmission via an NG system in the context of energy consumption, in the present paper, a one-dimensional pipeline model is proposed to predict the blended flow in a real existing pipeline (Shan–Jing I, China). The data of NG components were derived from real gas fields. Furthermore, the influence of H2 fractions on pipeline energy coefficient and the layout of pressurization stations are comprehensively analyzed. In addition, the case of intermediate gas injection is investigated, and the effects of injection positions are studied. This study serves as a useful reference for the design of an H2NG pipeline system. The present study reveals that with the increasing in H2 fraction, the distance between pressure stations increases. Furthermore, when the arrangement of original pressure stations is maintained, overpressure occur. Intermediate gas injection results in the inlet pressure of subsequent pressurization stations reducing. Using existing pipeline network to transport H2NG, it is necessary to make appropriate adjustment.

Nanofiltration concentration leachate is a high concentration organic wastewater with low biodegradability and high toxicity. To explore the feasibility of a combined Heat/UV activated persulfate process on nanofiltration concentrated leachate, the effects of persulfate concentration, initial solution pH before reaction, UV-lamp power and reaction temperature on the removal of organic pollutant were systematically investigated. Results indicated that the maximum rate of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N) and absorbance of organic matter under UV light at 254 nm (UV254) removal from the leachate were 65.4%, 51.4% and 98.1%, respectively, at a persulfate concentration of 18 g L−1, initial solution pH before reaction of 9.0, UV-lamp power of 60 W and temperature of 80 °C. The results of three-dimensional fluorescence and UV254 showed that the removal rates of humic substances contained in the nanofiltration concentrated leachate were over 98%. In addition, the results of free radical scavenging showed that hydroxyl radicals were dominant under alkaline conditions. The results of this study demonstrated that coupling heat and ultraviolet activated persulfate oxidation is a promising technique for the treatment of nanofiltration concentrated leachate.

To create and validate patient-completed Caprini risk score (CRS) tools for Chinese people. We revised Chinese patient-completed CRS form according to previously published studies. We prospectively recruited 70 internal medical patients and 70 surgical patients. The average age of these patients was 54.26 ± 15.29 years, 54.29% of them were male and 80% of them had education beyond high school. The study compared: (1) patient-completed CRS and physician-completed CRS; (2) the final value of physician-completed CRS (physician-completed CRS + body mass index) and CRS in the electronic medical record (EMR) system. Patient-completed CRS was 3.71 ± 3.63, patients spent 3.60 ± 1.24 minutes, 57.14% patients were at high-highest risk; physician-completed CRS was 3.84 ± 3.63, physicians spent 2.11 ± 1.13 minutes, 59.28% patients were at high-highest risk; the final value of physician-completed CRS was 4.12 ± 3.62, 63.58% patients were at high-highest risk; CRS value in the EMR system was 4.07 ± 3.58, 65% patients were at high-highest risk. There were strong positive correlations ( P < .0001) between patient-completed CRS and physician-completed CRS ( r = 0.978, κ = 0.76) and between the final value of physician-completed CRS and CRS in EMR ( r = 0.994, κ = 0.97). This study successfully developed and validated a Chinese patient-completed CRS that we found can replace physician-completed CRS. This results in considerable time saving for physicians and this process should increase the percentage of patients having complete risk assessment when they are admitted to the hospital.

An ultrafast high-sensitivity refractive index (RI) and temperature-sensing system based on an optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) is proposed and demonstrated in this paper. A Fabry-Perot fiber Bragg grating (FP-FBG), which combines a gap with two FBGs in a silica V-shaped slot and characterizes a narrow notch in the reflection spectrum, is incorporated in the OEO to implement a microwave photonic filter and perform oscillating frequency selection. A microwave signal is generated by the OEO, whose oscillating frequency is determined by the center frequency of the FP-FBG notch, which varies with the surrounding environments. The RI or the temperature change can be accordingly measured by monitoring the frequency shift of the microwave signal using an electrical spectrum analyzer or a digital signal processor. An experiment is performed to verify the proposal. An RI sensitivity of 413.8 MHz/0.001RIU and a temperature sensitivity of 2516 MHz/°C are successively demonstrated.

Apple is one of the most important fruit crops. Here, the authors perform deep genome resequencing of 117 diverse accessions and reveal comprehensive models of apple origin, speciation, domestication, and fruit size evolution as well as candidate genes associated with important agronomic traits.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), exhibiting tumor-tropic and migratory potential, can serve as cellular carriers to improve the effectiveness of anticancer agents. However, several challenges, such as the safety issue, the limited drug loading, the conservation of stemness and migration of MSCs, still remain in the MSC-based delivery system. In the present study, a novel nano-engineered MSC delivery system was established by loading doxorubicin (DOX)–polymer conjugates for the systemic treatment of pulmonary metastasis of breast cancer. For the first time, a dual drug-loaded mode, endocytosis and membrane-bound, was adopted to achieve the maximum amount of DOX conjugates in MSCs. The in vitro studies revealed the loaded MSCs possessed multifunctional properties, including preservation of the stemness and migration of MSCs, excellent stability of drug loading, acid sensitive drug release and obvious cytotoxicity against 4T1 cells. The in vivo studies confirmed that the loaded MSCs mainly located and long stayed in the lung where the foci of metastatic tumor situated. Importantly, loaded MSCs can significantly inhibit the tumor growth and prolong the life span of tumor-bearing mice in contrast with DOX and DOX-conjugate. The present loaded MSCs system suggested a promising strategy to solve several issues existed in cell-based delivery systems. Especially for the problem of low drug loading, the strategy, simultaneously loading nanodrug in cells’ internal and membrane, might be the most desirable method so far and could be developed as a generalizable manner for cell-mediated tumor-targeted therapy.

Previous studies have documented that psychological distress is related to problematic mobile phone use (PMPU), and sporadic research has investigated the potential mechanisms underlying the association. Based on the cognitive-behavioral model of pathological Internet use (PIU), the self-control theory, and the problem-behavior theory, this study aimed to examine the mediating role of maladaptive cognitions toward mobile phones and the moderating role of effortful control between psychological distress and PMPU. Data were collected from 1,799 secondary school students (45.1% male; Mage = 14.07, SD = 1.69) using four self-reported questionnaires. The results revealed that maladaptive cognitions toward mobile phones partially mediated the relationship between psychological distress and PMPU. In addition, effortful control as a protective factor attenuated the indirect effect from psychological distress to PMPU. These findings advanced the understanding of the etiology of PMPU and the need to develop effective strategies for prevention, suggesting that schools and families should pay additional attention to students with psychological distress. Targeted interventions for integrating online and offline worlds and effortful control training programs may help to prevent adolescents from engaging in PMPU.

Melanoma, characterized by high mortality, rapid development and accompanied with angiogenesis is the most typical malignant tumor in skin cancer. Hence, the detection of blood vessels is of much significance. The early vascular network has small scale. If we remove the tumor early and biopsy it, it will increase the spread of the cancer cells and infection and bleeding. In this case, we presented a new angiography method. A high-resolution OCT system for noninvasive angiographic imaging of early skin melanoma — Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (SS-OCTA) is proposed. With a high lateral resolution of 10μm in vivo tomographic angiography, SS-OCTA is used to image and identify the morphology of the early tumor blood vessels. In addition, a control group experiment is conducted to observe the growth of melanoma in the process of rupture, malformation of micro-vessels. The results of the analysis and statistical test (P

Solitary fibrous tumors are well described in the pleura, but rare extra-pleural neoplasms have been reported. We describe a patient with a solitary left renal fibrous tumor who after undergoing a nephrectomy, presented 8 years later with a contralateral metachronous solitary fibrous tumor. Malignant metastatic extra-pleural solitary fibrous tumors are extremely rare, and to our knowledge, this is the first case of contralateral recurrence of solitary renal fibrous tumor. The patient underwent a robotic assisted partial nephrectomy of the right renal mass. Both tumors showed overlapping histopathology.

There is only one previously reported incident in the English literature of sarcoma ex pleomorphic adenoma of the parotid and there are only 8 cases of primary parotid leiomyosarcoma. In our case, a 79-year-old female patient presented to our care with left preauricular pain, swelling, and facial weakness. After CT imaging, she underwent left total parotidectomy. A spindle cell lesion was identified intraoperatively and the facial nerve was sacrificed. Subsequent analysis of the lesion yielded a diagnosis of leiomyosarcoma ex pleomorphic adenoma. After 30 fractions of radiation therapy, scans were negative for tumor. However, 18 months after first experiencing symptoms, she was found to have metastases to the brainstem and lung. When diagnosing sarcoma ex pleomorphic adenoma of the parotid gland, it is important to perform thorough immunohistochemical staining and exclude a previous history of sarcoma or other sources of metastases. Complete resection is critical due to the tumor’s local aggressiveness and metastatic potential. Although these tumors are not very responsive to chemotherapy or radiation, adjuvant treatment is commonly used when margins are unclear.

Apple is one of the most economically important horticultural fruit crops worldwide. It is critical to gain insights into fruit ripening and softening to improve apple fruit quality and extend shelf life. In this study, forward and reverse suppression subtractive hybridization libraries were generated from 'Taishanzaoxia' apple fruits sampled around the ethylene climacteric to isolate ripening- and softening-related genes. A set of 648 unigenes were derived from sequence alignment and cluster assembly of 918 expressed sequence tags. According to gene ontology functional classification, 390 out of 443 unigenes (88%) were assigned to the biological process category, 356 unigenes (80%) were classified in the molecular function category, and 381 unigenes (86%) were allocated to the cellular component category. A total of 26 unigenes differentially expressed during fruit development period were analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR. These genes were involved in cell wall modification, anthocyanin biosynthesis, aroma production, stress response, metabolism, transcription, or were non-annotated. Some genes associated with cell wall modification, anthocyanin biosynthesis and aroma production were up-regulated and significantly correlated with ethylene production, suggesting that fruit texture, coloration and aroma may be regulated by ethylene in 'Taishanzaoxia'. Some of the identified unigenes associated with fruit ripening and softening have not been characterized in public databases. The results contribute to an improved characterization of changes in gene expression during apple fruit ripening and softening.

In response to the problems of reduced formation pressure, insufficient reservoir energy, and serious water flooding of oil wells in the southern part of Block 6 of Chunfeng Oilfield (Xinjiang, China) due to high cycles of steam stimulation, based on the geological conditions and reasons for high water cut in the block, nitrogen foam profile control and microbial oil recovery technology were proposed. A comprehensive treatment technology for high water content wells with microbial technology as the main focus and plugging and adjustment technology as the auxiliary was formed. The actual application effect of this technology was tested. The resistance factor and residual resistance factor of nitrogen foam were 540 and 270, respectively, which were higher than those of contrast foam. The core pressure value was greater than that of the contrast foam with good plugging property. By using this technology, the water content of the oil wells in the southern block of the rear row decreased and the oil production increased with a maximum oil increase of 847 ton. Microbial oil recovery experiments found that microbial strains could reduce the viscosity with the maximum decrease of 78.3%. The cumulative total oil production after expanding the experimental wells of microbial oil recovery technology was 3,286 ton. To sum up, the nitrogen foam profile control and microbial oil recovery technologies proposed in the study could effectively improve the recovery efficiency in super heavy oil reservoirs in southern Pai 6 block. The innovation of the research was the combination of nitrogen foam profile control and microbial oil recovery technology, which enriched the current research on the treatment of high water cut wells in super heavy oil reservoirs and provided new ideas and technical guidance for the treatment of high water cut wells in super heavy oil reservoirs. It had positive significance in improving the recovery of high water cut wells in super heavy oil reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]